Chapter four: Turtle Power
(Unknown Location)
The leader of the villains sat alone in the shadows, pondering his next move. Mouser had lost to Luigi and his team, but had come back with the crystal he was sent to retrieve.
Suddenly, his train of thought was broken when he heard a door open. Looking towards the door, he saw a short figure in the shadows about the same height as Mario walk into the room.
"Boss dude, the gang is ready for our mission." The shorter figure said. "Have you like, located the next crystal needed to finished your cool plan?"
"I have." The leader replied. He handed a sheet of paper to the shorter figure, containing directions. "I hope that your team can get to the crystal before that green plumber can."
The shorter figure stepped out of the shadows, revealing a Koopa wearing a red mask and red gloves that matched his red shell. "Don't worry, boss dude! The Koopa Bros. have everything under control!" Ninjakoopa Red said confidently.
"Don't call me dude."
(Koopa Village)
"So you're saying that you fought Mouser on a strange-looking, floating arena in a place called the 'Nth dimension'?" Luigi asked Goombaria.
"Yeah. I beat him, but as you guys know, he got away with the crystal." Goombaria replied.
"I wonder what he wanted with that crystal." Waluigi said. "What use could he possibly have for it?"
Fice T pondered for a few seconds before coming up with an idea. "I don't know, but I think I know someone who might."
(Mushroom Kingdom)
"It was a Power Crystal." Russ T said, nervously flipping through the pages of one of his books. "A crystal that can perform amazing feats when collected. In the hands of good, it could prove extremely helpful, but in the hands of evil, it could spell disaster for everyone."
"Why does a thing like that exist?" Melody asked.
"Well, originally, there was one Power Crystal, found by several well-known explorers, but when everyone realized what damage it could cause, they broke it into pieces. Now, there are a total of seven crystals scattered everywhere, but they are utterly useless unless they are all brought together again." The old mushroom replied.
Suddenly, everyone's eyes widened in realization.
"They're trying to find all the crystals!" Sonar cried.
"What can we do?" Goombaria asked.
"Find at least one of the crystals before they do." Luigi replied. He turned to Russ T. "Do you know of anyone that might know the location of the crystals?"
Russ T nodded. "Yes. Even though the main crystal was destroyed many years ago, some of the people who destroyed it are still alive." He smirked slightly. "The closest Power Crystal is around Soda Lake."
Everyone else froze before staring at the elder mushroom with wide eyes. "You were one of the people that originally destroyed the main crystal?" Fice T asked.
Russ T nodded. "Yes. While most of the others are dead, there ARE a few left, such as Koopa Koot, Lady Lima and Igor the Boo. But right now, I suggest you hurry and find that Power Crystal before the evil ones do."
Everyone nodded as they thanked the old mushroom and ran out the door. As soon as they were gone, Russ T exhaled nervously.
"I hope they find it before he does." Russ T said to himself. He just didn't really feel the need to tell everyone that one of the people who originally found the crystal had become evil, and Russ T would bet that he was the one behind Daisy's planned kidnapping.
Luigi's team ran through the streets of Toad Town, following Luigi towards the pipe that led to the sewers. Soon, they arrived at the pipe. Luigi quickly climbed up on top of the pipe and prepared to jump in.
"Why do we need to go into the sewers?" Sonar asked.
Luigi looked over his shoulder. "Soda Lake is a place Mario and I went to on out trip to recover Yoshi's friends." Luigi replied. "It's only accessible by a warp pipe in the sewers."
Without another word, Luigi jumped feet-first into the pipe, disappearing. Waluigi quickly followed, diving in. Melody went after, plugging her nose and holding her breath. Sonar and Goombaria jumped in at the same time. Fice T was the last to go in, but he stood on the edge of the pipe, trembling.
"B-But what if there's a monster down there?" Fice T asked into the pipe.
Waluigi's arm quickly shot back out of the pipe, grabbed Fice T's leg and pulled him in, ignoring the guard's terrified shouts.
(Toad Town Sewers)
The team walked through the sewers carefully. While they were in a hurry, the sewers had been known to be the home of Dark Koopas, Dark Goombas, and most of all, the dreaded Super Blooper. They wanted to make sure that they didn't attract any attention whatsoever. The team had been walking for a good while, and the corridors had become even darker. While he couldn't see her, Luigi could hear Goombaria whimpering quietly.
"I-It's getting darker." Goombaria whimpered. "I'm getting s-s-scared."
"Don't worry." Melody replied, sounding unusually calm. "If we stick together, we'll be fine."
No one could figure out how Melody could be so calm except Luigi. Spending so much time as a ghost would allow her to be used to the dark. It was already pitch black. No one could see anything.
"We'll form a chain and hold onto each other's hands." Luigi suggested. "I think I can see a little bit of light."
Everyone agreed as they held onto each other's hands and continued walking. Because Goombaria didn't have any hands, she jumped onto the shoulder of the closest person to her, although it was so dark that she couldn't tell who it was.
"Boy, Sonar." Everyone heard Melody say. "For a Shyguy, you've sure got big hands."
"Your hand feels like ice." Sonar replied.
"Don't worry, guys." Luigi said. "We're approaching a little bit of light."
Everyone found themselves exiting the tunnel they were currently in, entering the slightly-lit room ahead of them. Although once they were in the light, they saw something that would haunt them all for years to come.
A giant lantern ghost was holding onto Melody and Sonar's hands, with Goombaria perched on its shoulder. As soon as they saw what they were holding onto, Melody and Sonar instantly retracted their hands as Goombaria jumped off the ghost with a scream.
The lantern ghost pulled its lantern from out of nowhere and lifted it into the air. "THE GRIM REAPER COMES!" It shouted.
"I got it!" Waluigi said as he pushed past Luigi ad Fice T to face the monster.
[BATTLE: START]
[MINI-BOSS: LANTERN GHOST – HEALTH: 3]
The lantern ghost charged at the lanky plumber, although it wasn't very fast. Its footsteps were loud and heavy, but still close together to show that the creature was running. Waluigi easily avoided by stepping to the side. Waluigi turned around to see the lantern ghost again coming at him. Waluigi decided to not only avoid the attack, but counter it as well. Waluigi back-flipped over the ghost and planted his feet into the giant ghost's head. Although the lantern ghost staggered forward a few steps, it remained unfazed. The ghost turned around and started laughing at the purple plumber.
"Such weak attacks cannot hurt the Grim Reaper!" The lantern ghost taunted.
Waluigi's eyes widened. How could it NOT hurt the thing? In the meantime, the ghost held up its lantern.
"Now hold still so the Grim Reaper can pummel you!" The lantern ghost said.
The ghost inhaled deeply, then blew at the lantern with all its might. To Waluigi's surprise, a beam of light shot from the lantern, coming straight at him. Waluigi wasn't expecting this, and took the blow. The tall antihero was sent flying back, surprised by the power of such an attack. When Waluigi hit the ground, he instantly jumped to his feet.
"My attacks don't damage it and the lantern delivers powerful blows." Waluigi thought. "How am I supposed to defeat this thing?" As the lantern ghost charged at him again, Waluigi was deep in thought. "The light that shot from the lantern didn't go in his direction. I wonder what would happen if I attacked the lantern."
Waluigi didn't have time to test his theory, as the lantern ghost was too close. Avoiding the ghost's ram attack, Waluigi instantly turned around and shot his fist into the lantern. Suddenly, light shot from the lantern in all directions, lighting the room quickly. Almost instantly, the lantern ghost recoiled.
"AAAHHH! LIGHT!" The lantern ghost cried in pain. "LIGHT!"
Waluigi smirked as he charged towards the lantern ghost. "It can't stand the light!" He thought. "Perfect!"
Waluigi pulled his fist down, and then shot it up once he got close to the lantern ghost. Everyone else stared in amazement as Waluigi's fist became engulfed in a dark purple flame, and the purple plumber rose off the ground, performing an enhanced flaming uppercut. The attack hit the lantern ghost square in the jaw, sending it high into the air. The ghost hit the ground with a loud 'thud'. [HIT]
"Ugh..." The lantern ghost moaned as it got up. "The Reaper will remember that..." Blowing on the lantern again, the room was again engulfed in darkness.
Waluigi had to squint, but he saw the lantern ghost charging at him again, a little bit faster this time. Waluigi ran to the side as the ghost passed him. Unfortunately, Waluigi's opponent had keen senses in the dark, and noticed that the plumber was no longer in his sights. It turned on a dime and charged at where Waluigi was now standing.
The purple plumber pulled his fist back to do a timed attack on the lantern, but this time, the ghost was ready. It stopped running just a few feet from Waluigi and stopped instantly. Waluigi swung his fist, but obviously hit nothing but air. As Waluigi spun around, trying to get his balance back, the lantern ghost readied for another beam of light to fire from the lantern.
The lantern ghost blew on the lantern with all its might, firing another wave of light at Waluigi. Luckily, he saw this coming and managed to jump into the air, arching himself over the wave of light as it passed underneath. While in midair, Waluigi steered himself towards the lantern ghost, kicking the lantern with his foot. Again, light flooded the room as the lantern ghost recoiled in pain. Waluigi took this opportunity and performed another flaming uppercut. [HIT]
After landing on the ground, the lantern ghost quickly jumped to its feet. "The Grim Reaper will enjoy defeating you!" It spat.
"Will you stop rambling on about that guy!" Waluigi shouted, frustrated.
Instead of running, the lantern ghost leapt at Waluigi, soaring through the air with strangely-fast speed. Waluigi got out of the way just as the lantern ghost hit the ground. Unlike Luigi's battle with Jr. Troopa, the lantern ghost didn't send out a shockwave.
Waluigi didn't get a chance to send out a counter attack, as the lantern ghost jumped into the air again instantly. Waluigi barely made it out of the way as the lantern ghost made contact with the ground. Again, it jumped into the air and came down, again missing Waluigi by a matter of inches.
After recovering from almost being crushed like a grape, Waluigi saw that the lantern ghost was preparing to send out another wave of light. Waluigi quickly ran at his opponent, leapt into the air and landed his foot on the lantern. Light shot out in all directions as the giant monster reeled back in pain. It would soon bee feeling a third strike from Waluigi's flaming uppercut. [HIT]
"Impossible..." The lantern ghost said as it slowly collapsed. "The Grim Reaper can't be defeated..."
Waluigi slammed his foot down and laughed heartily. "What the heck was THAT supposed to be?" He asked.
[END BATTLE. WALUIGI WINS]
Waluigi thrust his fist at the lantern ghost one more time, sending it flying back several feet, off the edge of the stone platform and into the polluted water. The lantern ghost was quickly carried away down a long, dark tunnel. Everyone heard the lantern ghost scream something about the Grim Reaper until it faded into quietness.
"Boy, it's going to be pretty upset when it finds itself at Shiver City." Luigi said. The others nodded as they all continued down the tunnels of the sewers.
Sooner than later, the team came upon a green pipe sticking out of the concrete platform they were standing on. A sign was stuck to it, with the words 'Soda Lake' written on it.
"That's the one." Luigi said.
"Why's the pipe labeled?" Goombaria asked.
"I decided to label all the warp pipes I could find so I'd know where I'd end up at." Luigi explained. "Believe me, there's nothing worse than ending up at Ice Land in your swim shorts when you were originally planning for Water Land." He heard Waluigi chuckle, but ignored it. "Well, if we're going to find that Power Crystal, I suggest we get moving."
After Luigi went in first, the team followed closely, but not before Waluigi threw Fice T into the pipe to make sure that he went down. When Waluigi went into the pipe, he was the last one to go in.
(Donut Plains)
Waluigi found himself getting tossed out of the warp pipe, which reminded him of the time he and Wario were being chased by a severely ticked-off Bowser while Mario and the others were playing golf. After landing on his stomach, Waluigi stood to his feet and dusted himself off. Looking around, he saw that he was standing on a lush, green platform with a sparkling lake close by. The sun was high in the sky, allowing for the perfect temperature. The clouds were white, fluffy and spread out and everything, even the mountains and flowers, looked cheerful. Far too cheerful for Waluigi's tastes. He quickly saw Luigi and the others standing at the edge of the platform, looking into the lake. He walked over to them.
Luigi heard Waluigi coming and decided to give his opinion. "Russ T said that the crystal was around Soda Lake, but there's too many places around Soda Lake to begin with." He said, stroking his chin. "I think we should split up and search all over."
"Sounds good to me." Melody said.
"But I think it would be better if one of us searched IN Soda Lake here. There's a chance that it could be hidden underneath the water." Luigi said. "The bad thing is that I don't have a spare Frog Suit on me."
"No need." Sonar replied, walking towards the water's edge. "I'll go in myself."
"You can't be serious, Sonar!" Luigi said, wide eyed. "With depths as deep as Soda Lake, your eardrums will explode!"
"So what's your point?" Sonar asked. "I don't have ears."
No one could argue with that, and wished Sonar good luck as the young Shyguy dove into Soda Lake. After Sonar vanished, everyone split up to look elsewhere for the crystal.
(Soda Lake)
Sonar sank further and further into the water, looking around the whole way down. He was expecting some dangerous fish like a Big Bertha or something, but the worst he saw was a group of strange-looking Cheep Cheeps and a Rip Van Fish or two. He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt himself touching ground. Looking around again, he started to walk along the floor of the lake slowly, keeping an eye open for something that sparkled.
As he walked along, many Cheep Cheeps tried rushing him in groups, but they all fell to Sonar's powerful punches. Even the Rip Van Fishes and their psychotic rage when woken up were no match for Sonar.
Suddenly, Sonar heard what sounded like a machine whirring coming from behind him. Looking over his shoulder, Sonar saw something he hadn't been expecting: A long, thing version of Bullet Bill with glasses and buck teeth. A Torpedo Ted being launched from a black box resting inside part of the ground. It was soaring straight at Sonar with enough speed to rival a Bullet Bill.
While he was surprised at this, Sonar was certainly not afraid. Turning around completely, Sonar pulled his fist back as the Torpedo Ted closed in on him. Sonar had heard that neither of the Mario Bros. could defeat a Torpedo Ted, but he felt that he could. Once the Torpedo Ted came close enough, Sonar thrust his fist out as fast as he could, nailing the crazed torpedo with enough force to send a giant Goomba from one side of Toad Town to the other. The Torpedo Ted instantly exploded, leaving Sonar unharmed.
As soon as the torpedo exploded, Sonar saw that another one was being launched from the black box. Knowing that he wouldn't have time to take on the rest of the torpedoes in the box, Sonar turned around again and started running away, although it wasn't that fast. Luckily, he found a corner and went around it, escaping the Torpedo Teds. A good while of avoiding Torpedo Teds and defeating Cheep Cheeps later, Sonar was walking along the very bottom of Soda Lake, still searching for the Power Crystal. He was beginning to think about giving us his search when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He turned to look at it. Whatever it was, it sure was sparkling. Suddenly, Sonar's eyes widened behind his mask. The Power Crystal! It was tangled within some coral, and the sun beams shining from the surface far above were making it sparkle even more.
As quick as he could underwater, Sonar rushed over to the coral and started to work on getting the crystal out of it. It took a couple minutes, but Sonar finally managed to get the crystal out of the coral. The young Shyguy lifted the crystal above his head in triumph.
Unfortunately, his victory was short lived. Sonar suddenly heard another noise that sounded like a machine whirring, but it sounded completely different than from a Torpedo Ted. Turning around, Sonar saw a mini-sub floating close to him with four windows, each holding a strange-looking Koopa wearing a ninja mask and gloves. The one in red was laughing. Before Sonar could do anything, the sub had glowed a bright white, blinding him.
(Nth Dimension)
When Sonar opened his eyes, he saw that he was no longer on the bottom of Soda Lake. Instead, he was standing on a large, octagon platform floating in some kind of void made of green and black energy. It looked just like Goombaria had described it, only the platform looked different. He was in the Nth Dimension.
Sonar suddenly realized that he wasn't holding the crystal anymore. Looking on the ground, he couldn't see it.
"Looking for this, dude?" A voice asked.
Sonar looked in the direction of the voice and saw the four Ninja Koopas from earlier standing on the other side of the platform. The one in red, obviously the leader, was holding the crystal in his hands with a sly smirk on his face.
"Give that back!" Sonar shouted.
"Come and get it!" Red taunted, putting the crystal in his shell. "Let's get him, guys!"
Sonar's eyes widened when each of the Koopas pulled out a weapon. Yellow pulled out a pair of Sais, Black pulled out a pair of Nunchucks and green sported a long staff. Red whipped out a Katana and pointed it at Sonar. "Koopa Bros. AWAY!"
[BATTLE: START]
[BOSS: KOOPA BROS. – RED'S HEALTH: 3]
Yellow, Green and Black all rushed at Sonar, swinging their respective weapons so fast that they were spinning at unbelievable speeds. Red wisely got out of the way as the rest of the team suddenly lost their target and started spinning out of control, spinning all over the platform that they became more dangerous than if they hadn't lost track of Sonar.
And adding to the problem was the fact that Red was running around the arena, attempting to attack Sonar with his Katana every time he got close. Luckily, Sonar had seen this coming and ran from the attacks.
Sonar ran out of the way as Yellow had almost collided with him. The young Shyguy decided to try and attack Red, as he seemed to be the leader of the team. However, just as Sonar came close, Red whipped his Katana out and blocked Sonar's fist. Red gave a quick whistle, which brought the rest of the team out of their spinning to rush to their leader's aid. Luckily, as all three of the other Koopa Bros. started to attack him, Sonar saw this and jumped away from Red and plowed his shoulder through the other three, sending Yellow and Green back and sending Black flying a good ten feet into the air, spinning violently.
"This guy will call the others if I try to attack him!" Sonar thought. "Maybe I should wait for the others to stop spinning first and see what happens."
As soon as Sonar was far enough away, Yellow, Green and Black continued their spinning, again going out of control. Red continued running around the arena, not only trying to attack Sonar but avoiding his fellow teammates.
Sonar quickly saw Green spinning towards his. Sonar remembered that Green had been carrying the Bo, which had given him the longest reach. Sonar stayed his distance, trying to avoid the added reach of the Green Koopa Bro.
As Sonar ran, Green suddenly stopped spinning, wobbling in place, trying to regain his sights. Looking around, Sonar saw that Black and Yellow were no different. Deciding to take the opportunity, Sonar ran at Green walked around him so that Green was aimed at Red, pulled his fist back and quickly lashed it out.
Now, normally, a punch like the one Sonar gave Green would be enough to defeat a normal enemy instantly, but this was no ordinary enemy, so Green was sent flying straight back, his shell making contact with Red's face. Red recoiled in pain, landed on his shell, did a half flip and slid for a few feet before finally stopping. [HIT]
"Ugh!" Red said as he got to his feet. "Bring it on, little dude!"
Sonar smirked behind his mask. He now knew how to defeat the Koopa Bros.
Green, Black and Yellow quickly ran back to join Red. Once they were all lined up in front of their leader, Red hit hem all in the back with his Katana, sending them all spinning in different directions. As soon as they were all spinning, Red again ran at Sonar with his Katana in hand.
"Hold still and let me hit you, dude!" Red shouted, leaping into the air and bringing his Katana above his head.
Sonar quickly ran to the side as Red came down and struck the ground with his Katana, creating a fairly large slice in the arena floor, showing Sonar the immense power of red's weapon.
In the meantime, Sonar had seen that the other three Ninjakoopas had stopped spinning and started wobbling. Sonar ran towards the closest of the three, which was Green again, and punched Green with enough force to send him flying at Red for another hit.
Or so he thought. Green bounced off Red, doing no damage to the leader of the Koopa Bros. Sonar's eyes widened. How could Red be unaffected? Sonar came up with a pretty lame idea, but decided to try it anyway. He quickly ran towards another of the Koopa Bros., Black, and punched him instead. Black was sent flying back, his shell finding its way to Red's jaw. Red was again sent to the ground. [HIT]
"Oh, man!" Red said, getting to his feet. "Dudes! What happened to our teamwork?"
Sonar now knew how to defeat his four opponents for sure this time. Every time Red got struck, he would gain an immunity to that particular Koopa Bro. So to confirm his theory, Sonar knew that he'd have to go for Yellow this time.
Yellow, Black and Green again went back to Red, who instantly hit them with his Katana. The other three Koopa Bros. spun out of control, spinning everywhere, as Red again went in for the kill.
Sonar dodged everything that Red threw at him as he tried to keep as close to Yellow as he could, although it was a little difficult at first to tell who it was because he was spinning so fast. Sonar wanted to try and attack Red so that he would be given more time, but he knew that that would just cause the others to stop spinning and help their leader.
Luckily, the other three Koopa Bros. stopped spinning soon, and Sonar was right in thinking that the one he decided to stay close to was Yellow. Sonar lined Yellow up with Red, pulled his fist back and delivered an insanely powerful blow. Yellow was sent flying back, striking Red with enough force for the final hit. [HIT]
"Oh, man..." Red moaned, drifting into unconsciousness. "That's...So...Bogus."
Sonar pulled his fist down, spun it a few times and launched it into the air, making himself airborne at the same time. "There's no way you guys could stand up to the originals!" He laughed before a white light blinded him again.
[END BATTLE. SONAR WINS]
(Soda Lake)
When Sonar opened his eyes, he saw that he was again on the floor of Soda Lake, with the Koopa Bros. sub floating not too far away. All four of them were unconscious.
Suddenly, Sonar remembered the crystal. Sonar was about to rush at the sub when it was engulfed it glowing white energy. When the energy vanished, the sub, Koopa Bros. and crystal were all gone.
Sonar inwardly sighed as he started swimming up towards the surface of Soda Lake. He'd have to get to the surface and find the others quickly before the villains could find the next crystal.
